I have a Fluval Spec V for a betta. At the aquarium shop, I was told I could jump start the tank by adding some bacteria from a bottle. I did that, and I'm on day 3, getting Ammonia reading of .25 and nothing on the nitrate. My question is how long before I should expect to see something on the nitrates, and should I be doing a water change in the meantime?
New tank
- Thread starter Kalane
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ZxC
Aquarium Advice Addict
Only do water changes to keep ammonia 2ppm or slightly less. If you plan on planting the tank, I would go ahead and add plants immediately. If not, no big deal. Usually you will see nitrites spike, then start to decline which will start to show a nitrate spike, but you have to keep ammonia ~2ppm to ensure you don't kill off your bacteria. When ammonia is consumed resulting in 0 nitrites and some nitrates, you should be good to go.
Cycle in a bottle is tough because there is so many brands out there, so it's impossible to say how long it should take to start working. It should never hurt to use the bacteria in a bottle, but its a guessing game as to how long it will take.
Cycle in a bottle is tough because there is so many brands out there, so it's impossible to say how long it should take to start working. It should never hurt to use the bacteria in a bottle, but its a guessing game as to how long it will take.
